Norwegian runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen won gold at the Tokyo Olympics aged 20. Judging by their performance on Friday, Paris could be even better next year.
With a previously unthinkable time of 7:54.10, Ingebrigtsen, now 22, smashed the world record for the fastest two miles in history on Friday at the Paris Diamond League meet. Basically, he ran two miles in under 4 minutes, blowing the terrain in the process.
Ingebrigtsen’s time broke a record that had stood for more than 25 years. Kenyan Daniel Komen previously held the title with a time of 7:58.61 set on July 19, 1997, the only other time under 8 minutes in history.
Ishmael Kipkurui of Kenya was second at 8:09.23, while Kuma Girma of Ethiopia was third at 8:10.34.
The record was apparently something of a surprise to Ingebrigtsen, according to his post-race comments via Olympics.com:
“To be able to do this record is amazing. It’s my first outdoor world record.
“The pace was very gentle for me coming out of the 1500m. I would say it was a good race. The audience was incredible, without their help it would have been more difficult. END.”
Ingebrigtsen first found stardom in 2021 when he won the 1,500 meters title in Tokyo, beating rival Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya for the first time in 13 races.
With just one year to go until the 2024 Olympics, Ingebrigtsen will once again be a name to watch, potentially in both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. He planned to attempt the ambitious program in 2021 before dropping the 5,000 the week before the races.